This project aims to study whether a virtuous intellectual character is a cause of human flourishing. For this purpose, a 3-year longitudinal study will be carried out on 700 Argentine university students. The role of intellectual humility in virtuous intellectual character and the influence of honesty on human flourishing will also be analyzed.
There has been a great deal of research on the effect of moral virtues on human flourishing. However, empirical studies focused on the impact of virtuous intellectual character are scarce. This research seeks to fill this gap.
Three consecutive annual assessments of intellectual character, honesty, and human flourishing will generate empirical evidence for a deeper understanding of some virtues that make us better persons. Reports with yearly results will be presented for discussion in annual workshops to 150 faculty members already engaged in teaching for intellectual virtues at Universidad Austral (UA). The cross-sectional yearly analysis of data and the longitudinal study over three years will also be shared with international researchers at six conferences and in three scientific papers. Academic exchanges between UA scholars and researchers who are members of the project board of advisors will pave the way for future cross-cultural research on intellectual virtues between South America and North Atlantic countries.
Due to this project, we expect that at least ten UA undergraduate degree programs will begin to implement specific actions to develop intellectual virtues in their students, thus impacting at least 3,000 future Argentine leaders. In addition, we hope that, inspired by this research, other Latin American universities will seek to replicate UA's longitudinal study and UA’s teaching for intellectual virtues initiative, multiplying the project's impact in the region.
